I do quite a bit of reading around the topic of pseudoscience (& in fact I've just got hold of a copy of Michael Gordin's book, "The Pseudoscience Wars"). So I was interested, & pleased to see a recent TEDx blog post on this very issue – their descriptions of what constitutes good science and […]
Continue readingTag: nature of science
the fascinating psychology behind conspiracy theories
I've just read (via the NZ Skeptics page on FB) a fascinating article on Slate about the psychology of conspiracy theorists. In it, Will Saletan describes a series of studies from the past 20 years, that attempted to understand why a fair proportion of people seem to incline towards conspiracy theories (for example, a 2007 poll […]
Continue readingin which we encounter a very strange idea about water
Namely, that water today is becoming harder to absorb because the water molecules are clustered. Yes, really.
Continue readinghow to do citizen science
The other day I was involved in a discussion on setting up a ‘citizen science’ program. The people asking the questions were looking at developing outreach: giving talks, helping with local science-y initiatives, setting up websites, & so on. I responded that it all sounded good, and it was great that they were looking at […]
Continue readingan impressive-sounding number of references, (therefore good?)
Various commenters on the Uni's FB page for our google hangout earlier this week have urged me & my colleagues to read The Case Against Fluoride, by Drs Connett, Beck & Micklem. One of the reasons we should do is, we're told, is because it's got a whole 80 pages of references (or, as one commenter put […]
Continue readinggoogle hangout – a new adventure
A few days back the Uni communications office asked if I'd be willing to chair a google hangout panel discussion. Subject: the chemistry of fluoride. I'm always interested in trying new things, so I said yes, and yesterday we had our hangout and this is the result: It was an interesting experience and – from […]
Continue readinggoat glands, greed, and gullibility
Book Review: Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam, by Pope Brock Price: US$14.95 Paperback: 324 pages Publisher: Three Rivers Press, New York, USA (2008) Language: English ISBN: 978-0-307-33989-8 […]
Continue readingconcerns & conspiracy theories
Any discussion around water fluoridation will bring up quite a number of concerns, but increasingly – on-line anyway – conspiracy theories also come to the fore. I think the latter need to be addressed, but not at the risk of ignoring or failing to address the former. Worrying about the nature of what's in our […]
Continue readingis science really “too hard”, and if it is, what are we doing about it?
Elf Eldridge has just put up this excellent post on a breaking news story. The issue? that it seems schools are increasingly pulling back from making science compulsory in year 11. From the Stuff article: Scientists are alarmed as a growing number of schools considering [sic] ditching science from the compulsory curriculum because it is […]
Continue readingteach creationism, undermine science
Every now & then I've had someone say to me that there's no harm in children hearing about 'other ways of knowing' about the world during their time at school, so why am I worried about creationism being delivered in the classroom? Well, first up, my concerns – & those of most of my colleagues […]
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